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India’s  Womanhood  I 


m 


India’s  Womanhood 


REV.  J.  P.  JONES,  D.  D. 

For  thirty- five  years  a Missionary  of  the  American  Board 
in  India 


Woman’s  Board  of  Missions  of  the  Interior 
(Congregational) 

Room  1315,  19  South  La  Salle  St.,  Chicago 


1915 

Price,  Five  Cents 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2016 


https://archive.org/details/indiaswomanhoodOOjone 


INDIA’S  WOMANHOOD 
Rev.  J.  P.  Joxes,  D.  D. 

India  has  been  pre-eminently  the  land  of  the  deified 
custom.  Her  eager  eyes  have  been  turned  toward  the 
past  and  upon  her  favorite  altars  was  inscribed  her  watch- 
word “To  the  ancient  gods  of  my  fathers.”  But  she  has 
now  joined  the  rest  of  the  world  in  eager  quest  after  the 
new,  the  untried,  the  alluring  future.  Her  bark  has  left 
its  ancient  mooring  and  has  entered  the  troubled  current 
of  modern  life  and  ambition. 

Not  long  ago  [Matthew  Arnold  wrote  of  India: 

“The  East  bowed  down  beneath  the  blast 
In  patient,  deep  disdain ; 

It  let  the  legions  thunder  past. 

And  plunged  in  thought  again.” 

These  sentiments  of  the  English  poet  are  now  remi- 
niscent of  antiquity.  The  “East”  is  now  pushing  for- 
ward, and  is  expressing  with  Germany  its  ambition  “to 
find  a place  in  the  sun.”  In  other  words,  progress  is  now 
inscribed  upon  her  new  banner.  In  nothing  is  India’s 
changed  condition  more  marked  than  in  its  attitude 
towards  its  women.  Its  many  tongued  proverbs  abun- 
dantly reflect  its  former  deep  rooted  distrust  and  con- 
tempt of,  and  cruel  injustice  towards  its  womanhood. 

“What  is  the  chief  gate  to  hell? — Woman.” 

“A  man  is  a fool  who  considers  his  wife  as  his  friend.” 

“To  educate  a woman  is  like  putting  a knife  in  the 
hands  of  a monkey.” 

These  proverbs  are  expressive  not  of  the  inferiority  of 


Page  three 


Beyond  the  Home  no  sphere  of  opportunity 
WAS  open  to  her 


the  woman,  but  of  the  contemptible  mind  of  the  man  of 
India.  As  a matter  of  principle  and  policy,  woman  has 
been  kept  in  grossest  ignorance.  The  knowledge  of  the 
most  sacred  religious  books  of  her  faith  was  denied  her. 
She  was  deprived  of  all  the  blessings  of  education  with 
its  broadening  and  elevating  influence.  Only  seven  in 
one  thousand  women,  even  today,  are  able  to  read  and 
write.  The  duties  of  maternity  were  thrust  upon  her 
in  early  girlhood  5'ears  before  she  was  prepared  for  them 
ph3'sically  or  mentally.  She  was  compelled  prematurely 
to  enter  upon  the  duty  and  responsibility  of  home  making. 
Beyond  the  home  no  sphere  of  culture,  of  influence,  or 
of  opportunity  was  offered  or  permitted  to  her. 

Above  all  she  has  been  cursed,  even  in  earliest  infancy, 
with  matrimony  and  widowhood.  Some  children  are  con- 
ditionally married  to  each  other  even  before  they  are 
born!  A Hindu  father  is  enjoined  by  his  faith  to  marry 
all  his  daughters  before  they  attain  puberty.  As  a conse- 
quence of  this  there  are  now  in  India  100,000  child 
widows — beautiful,  innocent  girls  whose  life  is  cursed 
by  this  cruel  inhuman  custom. 

In  view  of  this  is  it  strange  that  some  years  ago  in 
a community  of  30,000  Rajputs,  in  North  India,  not  one 
girl  was  to  be  found  ? 

In  a small  village  school  which  I conducted,  there 
were  three  little  girls  in  the  infant  class,  aged  seven,  eight 
and  nine  respectively.  All  were  Brahmans  and  were 
married,  and  one  was  a widow.  One  of  the  theological 
students  whom  I graduated  from  the  Theological  Seminary 
three  j^ears  ago  was  married  to  a beautiful,  tmung  wife, 
who  was  well  educated,  and  deeply  pious  and  bright  in 
the  joy  of  her  Christian  faith  and  its  service.  But  she, 
when  she  was  two  j^ears  old,  and  a sister  one  t'ear  older, 
were  married  the  same  day  to  an  old  uncle.  It  was,  their 
parents  thought,  the  only  hope  of  marrjdng  both  of  them. 


Page  five 


The  uncle  husband  died  a jear  later,  and  the  two  infant 
wives  became  widows ! This  younger  sister  was  picked 
up  as  an  outcaste  by  one  of  our  missionary  ladies,  was  edu- 
cated in  her  boarding  school,  became  a Christian,  and 
was  as  a young  woman  married  to  the  young  man,  my 
student,  who  himself  was  a convert  from  heathenism. 
His  mother,  who  still  remains  a Hindu,  never  ceases 
mourning  that  her  boy  should  have  married  “a  widow;” 
and  is  not  “her  present  continued  childlessness,”  she  says, 
“a  punishment  to  both  for  so  unnatural  a marriage!” 

When  the  securing  of  a husband  for  her  child  daugh- 
ter is  so  difficult  and  often  impossible,  many  a mother 
has  even  dedicated  her  infant,  at  its  birth,  to  become  a 
“wife  of  one  of  the  gods,”  which  is  Hindu  euphemism 
for  prostitution.  Many  thousands  of  these  more  than 
unfortunate  women  are,  in  the  name  and  by  the  command 
of  their  religion,  a curse  of,  and  a curse  to,  that  faith 
and  people. 

This  is  the  blighted  and  the  doomed  womanhood  of 
India — blighted  by  ancient,  false  religious  conceptions, 
and  doomed  to  the  perpetual  bondage  of  a cursed  custom 
and  limitation. 

It  is  almost  a miracle  that  the  woman  of  that  country 
has  not,  under  such  cruel  limitations,  become  absolutely 
debased  and  unworthy.  But  she  has  not.  She  has  main- 
tained her  virtue  and  integrity  and  the  sweetness  of  her 
womanly  nature  to  a wonderful  degree.  She  is  the  great 
redeeming  feature  of  that  country  and  people.  In  her 
ignorance  and  limited  sphere  she  has  learned  contentment; 
she  even  loves  the  fetters  of  her  bondage. 

Is  she  not  welcome  at  her  birth?  She  soon  wins  by 
her  smiles  and  winsome  ways  a large  place  in  the  parental 
heart  and  becomes  the  pet  of  the  home.  Her  ignorance 
and  the  myriad  follies  and  superstitions  of  her  narrow 
life  are  atoned  for  by  her  cheery  prattle  and  pretty  per- 


Page  six 


sonal  charms.  Though  she  is  bound  to  the  narrow  sphere 
of  her  home,  yet  she  has  built  her  throne  upon  the  hearth 
and  rules  husband  and  children  with  an  iron  rod.  There 
is  no  mother  on  earth  who  shapes  and  gives  her  impress 
to  the  children  in  the  home  atmosphere  as  she  does.  If, 
in  her  religious  training  and  hopes,  her  destiny  is  linked 
to  and  depends  upon  man,  she  sees  to  it  that  upon  father, 
husband  and  son  her  religious  influence  shall  be  great, 
if  not  supreme.  By  her  religious  sincerity,  her  sweet, 
simple,  boundless  devotion  to  her  ancestral  faith  and  gods, 
she  is  today  by  far  the  greatest  known  force  for  the  pres- 
ervation of  that  religion.  Hinduism  would  vanish  in  a 
day  were  it  not  for  the  remarkable  religious  devotion  and 
sincerity  of  the  woman  of  India. 

Nor  should  it  be  supposed  that  she  greatly  feels  the 
cruelty  and  bitterness  of  her  life  limitations.  Like  the 
prisoner  of  Chillon  she  has  become  reconciled  to  her  con- 
dition even  if  she  does  not  love  her  chains.  No  one  is  a 
greater  obstacle  than  she  to  efforts  now  put  forth  for  her 
freedom  and  exaltation.  She  has  even  glorified  her  bond- 
age and  was  distinctly  unfriendly  to  her  would  be  emanci- 
pators. 

Nor  must  it  be  thought  that  all  the  educated  men  of 
India  welcome  the  campaign  for  the  greater  rights  and 
privileges  of  their  women.  Even  such  a man  as  Rabin- 
dranath Tagore  resents  the  Western  propaganda  in  behalf 
of  the  woman  of  India  and  suggests  that  they  might  be 
better  employed  in  the  work  of  directing  and  properly 
locating  and  restraining  their  own  women  of  the  West. 
Doubtless  much  of  this  feeling  arises  from  the  radical 
differences  which  exist  in  the  minds  of  the  East  and  of 
the  West  as  to  the  true  sphere  and  rights  of  woman.  Still, 
many  of  the  best  men  of  India  are  now  agreed  that  the 
prosperity  of  their  native  land  must  depend  more  than 
ever  upon  the  emancipation  of  their  women  from  the  many 


Page  seven 


The  Dawn  of  a New  Day  of  Promise. 


physical,  social,  intellectual  and  religious  disabilities  which 
have  cursed  that  country. 

But  today  we  behold,  for  her,  the  dawn  of  the  new 
day  of  promise,  of  blessing,  and  of  power. 

A couple  of  years  ago  I stood  upon  one  of  the  spurs 
of  the  great  Himalyan  range  waiting  for  the  dawn  of  the 
day.  The  spur  was  only  8,500  feet  high.  I eagerly  faced 
the  east  awaiting  the  sunrise ; but  the  sun  had  not  yet  risen 
above  the  horizon.  While  thus  waiting  for  the  new  day, 
I turned  and  looked  behind  me,  and  saw,  forty  miles  in 
the  distance,  the  wonderful  Kinchenjunga  range  which 
towers  nearly  20,000  feet  above  the  spur  on  which  we 
were  then  standing,  and  was  robed  in  a beautiful  white 
garb  of  eternal  snow.  To  my  surprise  I saw  that  the  sun 
had  already  arisen  and  was  pouring  its  golden  rays  upon 
that  range,  and  was  transmuting  it  into  a vision  of  beauty 
and  splendor.  A hundred  miles  away  and  to  the  left  of  this 
we  could  also  see  the  sun-tipped  cap  of  Mt.  Everest,  the 
highest  mountain  peak  on  earth.  It  also  was  bathed  in 
the  glorious  sun-lit  dawn.  Presently  for  us  too  the  sun 
ascended  above  the  horizon  and  we  welcomed  the  initial 
glory  and  splendor  of  a new  day.  And  this  was  the  har- 
binger of  the  new  day  for  all  the  plains  and  valleys  of 
India  which  just  then  were  still  resting  in  the  gloom  of 
night. 

This  to  me  was  a parable  of  the  dawn  of  a new  day  of 
opportunity  and  of  blessing  for  the  womanhood  of  India. 
The  sun  is  shining  already  upon  the  highest  peaks  of  op- 
portunity in  that  land,  and  the  millions  of  that  land,  who 
are  in  the  valleys  of  darkness,  of  ignorance,  and  supersti- 
tion are  soon  to  be  bathed  in  the  sunlight  of  God’s  own 
day  of  blessing. 

It  is  really  the  dawn  of  the  Christian  Sun  of  Righteous- 
ness who  is  rising  with  healing  in  his  wings  for  the  women 
of  India.  It  is  Christianity  and  Christ  which  are  bring- 


Page  nine 


ing  to  the  women  of  that  land  this  new  era  of  blessing 
and  of  power.  During  the  last  century  the  Christian 
propaganda  has  furnished  to  India  the  supreme  dynamic 
as  also  the  method  of  the  new  movements  towards  wom- 
an’s emancipation  and  glorious  opportunity.  And  of  all 
these  Christian  influences  none  compares  in  effectiveness 
to  the  example  and  heroic  labors  of  the  missionary  women 
of  the  West  who,  with  so  much  of  devotion  and  love,  are 
offering  all  their  gifts  of  faith,  of  culture,  and  of  service 
upon  the  altar  of  the  redemption  of  India’s  womanhood. 
Three  thousand  and  two  hundred  of  these  noble  women 
of  the  Protestant  West,  (not  to  speak  of  the  no  less  de- 
voted Roman  Catholic  nuns)  are  today,  by  their  life  and 
example,  furnishing  new  ideals  and  a mighty  impulse  to 
their  Indian  sisters,  and  showing  to  them  the  wonderful 
possibilities  of  power  which  lie  before  them.  They  throw 
a divine  halo  around  the  home  and  reveal  the  ever  widen- 
ing sphere  of  womanly  service  and  loving  sacrifice  for 
others. 

What  are  some  of  the  results  of  this  Christian  propa- 
ganda for  the  women  of  that  land?  In  the  first  place 
they  are  receiving  the  vision  of  a new  sphere  of  life  and 
opportunity.  It  is  no  longer  necessary  that  woman  should 
find  her  influence  confined  to  the  home — an  influence  too 
of  ignorance  and  of  ultra  conservatism.  There  is  today 
placed  before  her  a new  and  a wondrous  opportunity  of 
domestic,  social,  cultural,  and  religious  privilege  in  behalf 
of  her  people. 

Then  the  supreme  worth  of  womanhood  has  been  re- 
vealed for  the  first  time  in  that  land.  The  people  of  India 
are  learning  today,  for  the  first  time,  that  the  position  of 
woman  in  the  life  of  any  country  is  the  truest  barometer 
of  that  country’s  position  in  the  great  life  of  the  world. 
They  are  learning  today  that  woman  is,  after  all,  worthy 
of  the  highest  education.  There  is  a great  movement 

Page  ten 


Girls  of  West  Street  School,  Palani. 

There  is  a great  movement  toward  the  school-house  for  the  girls  of  India. 


toward  the  school  house  for  the  girls  of  India.  One  mil- 
lion of  them  are  already  members  of  the  school  popula- 
tion. The  school  roll  of  these  girls  was  increased  by 
100,000  last  year.  There  are  ten  colleges  for  women 
in  India,  three  of  which  are  Christian,  and  in  all  of  which 
more  than  one-third  of  the  students  are  Christian  women. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  education  of  women 
in  India  was  initiated  by  and  is  largely  the  result  of  the 
Protestant  missionary  effort;  and  it  is  but  natural  that 
the  Christian  women  of  India  should  shine  more  than 
others  in  this  realm  of  opportunity  and  development. 
Through  the  efforts  of  these  Christian  women,  almost 
the  only  women  teachers  now  available  for  Hindu  girls’ 
schools  are  Christians.  In  the  ^Madras  Presidency  one- 
fifth  of  all  school  girls  are  Christians.  One-tenth  of  all 
the  reading  women  of  India  are  Christians.  Out  of 
twenty  thousand  Indian  women  who  understand  English 
in  that  Presidency,  18,200  are  Christian,  only  one  a Jain, 
70  Mohammedan,  and  1,700  Hindu!  Think  of  the  mar- 
velous sweep  of  influence  which  this  means  for  the  wmmen 
of  India,  and  especially  for  the  Christian  women  of  that 
land  ! 

There  is  also  a new  era  of  service  now  opening  to 
women.  There  are  ten  thousand  Indian  Protestant  wom- 
en, many  of  them  of  splendid  educational  equipment,  and 
all  of  deep,  earnest  piety,  who  are  giving  their  whole  time 
to  the  missionary  propaganda  in  connection  with  the 
Protestant  Church.  Many  of  these  women  are  the  peers 
of  any  of  their  sisters  in  any  other  land,  both  in  equipment 
of  knowledge,  and  of  faith  and  power.  The  idea  that 
woman  can  serve  in  any  other  than  a menial  capacity  is 
thus  taught  to  India  for  the  first  time  by  the  example  of 
these  Christian  women ; and  their  influence  is  reaching  all 
over  the  country  and  among  the  people  of  other  faiths 
too.  In  Bombay  there  was  established  recently  a new 


Page  twelve 


Many  Protestant  Women  are  giving  their  time 
TO  Christian  Work. 


institution  called  Seva  Sadan,  whose  purpose  is  to  train 
Indian  women  of  any  and  of  all  faiths  for  honorable 
service  among  their  sisters.  This  idea  of  high  service  by 
woman  is  Christian ; but  it  is  entering  into  the  very  fabric 
and  life  of  other  faiths  too. 

Above  all  else,  I have  been  inspired  by  the  wonderful 
progress,  made  during  my  36  years’  experience  in  India, 
in  the  development  of  the  life  and  the  opportunities  of 
the  Christian  women  of  that  land.  In  every  mission  there 
is  found  today  a body  of  excellently  trained  and  well 
equipped  Christian  women  who  reveal  the  highest  tt'pes 
and  noblest  characteristics  of  our  faith,  and  who  are  wield- 
ing an  influence  far  beyond  anything  that  we  realize  in 
the  progress  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  in  India;  and  I think 
far  bet'ond  what  the  men  of  that  country  are  wielding  at 
the  present  time.  There  is  a growing  body  of  distin- 
guished Christian  women  who  are  reflecting  a glory  upon 
the  womanhood  of  that  land,  and  who,  by  their  example 
and  activities,  are  not  only  revealing  the  possibilities  but 
the  marvelous  powers  of  a consecrated  Indian  womanhood. 

Consider  a few  of  them  onlv. 

M iss  Lilavati  Singh,  the  educator,  was  a member  of 
the  outcaste  community,  but  beautified  by  the  transcend- 
ent graces  of  our  religion,  and  adorned  with  a university 
culture  which  gave  her  a wonderful  charm  of  personality. 
It  was  of  this  lady  that  Ex-President  Harrison  remarked, 
as  he  presided  at  the  Ecumenical  Conference  fifteen  years 
ago  at  New  York  City,  “Ladies  and  gentlemen,  if  I had 
had  a million  dollars,  and  had  expended  all  of  it  on  Mis- 
sions, and  if  the  only  result  of  my  investment  had  been 
this  lady  I would  have  regarded  my  investment  as  having 
been  well  made.” 

Pundita  Ramabai  is  a remarkable  philanthropist.  She 
was  a discouraged  Brahman  widow  when  God’s  Spirit 
touched  her  heart,  t ears  ago ; and  she  became  a Christian 


Page  fourteen 


— verily  a centre  of  power.  With  wonderful  ability  and 
devotion  she  has  given  herself  to  the  redemption  of  her 
benighted  little  widowed  sisters  of  India.  In  her  great  in- 
stitution, where  nearly  3,000  of  these  youth  are  being 
trained  for  life  and  service,  Ramabai  has  done  far  more 
for  the  upbuilding  of  truth  and  righteousness,  of  love  and 
service,  than  has  any  man  that  I know  of  in  that  land. 

Or  look  at  Mrs.  Sattianathan,  editor,  (the  widow  of 
Dr.  Sattianathan),  who  is  conducting  the  most  beautiful 
magazine  in  all  India,  one  devoted  to  Indian  womanhood. 
She  is  a lady  of  peculiar  charm  of  personality  and  of  the 
graces  of  life. 

Behold  also  iMiss  Bose,  the  doctor.  She  was  one  of 
the  distinguished  members  of  the  National  Missionary 
Council  of  India  three  years  ago,  and,  with  wonderful 
ability  presented,  in  that  great  Council,  the  cause  of  In- 
dia’s womanhood,  and  revealed  her  own  exquisite  power  as 
an  example  of  what  the  women  of  India  may  become  and 
achieve. 

Or  consider  Miss  Cornelia  Sorabjee,  the  lawyer.  This 
lady  is  the  first  distinguished  woman  lawyer  in  that  coun- 
try. Wonderfully  able  and  devoted,  through  her  pro- 
fession, to  the  higher  interests  of  the  women  of  India, 
she  is  wielding  a unique  power  today. 

Miss  Goreh,  the  poet,  also  is  a striking  personality. 
She  died  even  while  very  young,  and  yet  she  left  as  a 
legacy  to  the  Christian  Church  a beautiful  hymn,  the  only 
hymn  of  an  Indian  Christian  which  had  found  currency 
in  this  country, — “In  the  secret  of  His  Presence,  How 
my  soul  delights  to  hide.” 

As  I think  of  these  splendid  trophies  which  Christian- 
ity has  won  in  India,  and  of  other  women  who  are  repre- 
sentative of  the  glory  and  power  of  our  faith  in  that  land, 
I am  impelled  to  exclaim  in  ancient  words:  “Who  are 

these  who  are  arrayed  in  white  robes?  These  are  they 


Page  fifteen 


who  have  come  out  of  the  great  tribulation  and  have 
washed  their  robes  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of 
the  Lamb.”  These  are  the  crown,  the  brightest  and  rich- 
est crown,  of  Christian  Missions  in  that  land;  and  I know 
of  no  Indian  Christian  men  who  would  present  so  distin- 
guished and  brilliant  a body  as  that  of  these  noble  Chris- 
tian women.  They  are  worthy  to  stand  beside  the  best 
of  our  1200  American  missionary  women  now  working  in 
that  country. 


Page  sixteen 


